No Return Policy
by melanie39
Summary: Set during The Outsider and onwards - Kirsten struggles to accept Ryan as part of her family.
1. Chapter 1

_I've tinkered a little with the timeline of The Outsider_

_I've tinkered a little with the timeline of The Outsider. For my own purposes, Kirsten returns from her weekend after the car gets trashed but before Ryan's date with Marissa/ Donnie gets shot etc which I'm delaying by a couple of days._

**No Return Policy-Chapter One**

"So, this happened in the parking lot of the IMAX Movie Theatre?"

Seth shifted uncomfortably under his mother's gaze.

"You're unusually quiet, Seth. You know, I'm not used to this from you. Being out of the house till all hours? Drinking? Lying?"

Kirsten went in for the kill.

"You didn't go to the IMAX, did you?"

Seth weighed his options carefully and looked his mother straight in the eye.

"Like I said, mom, we went in to see the shark movie, and when we came out, the car was trashed. I don't know what else you want me to say."

"He's lying. He stood there blatantly and lied to me. And to you."

"You don't know that for sure."

Kirsten flipped open her overnight bag and started to remove her belongings methodically. She didn't look up.

"I know my son. And I know the IMAX Movie Theatre. There are security guards, security cameras. There's no way anyone could get away with doing what they did to my car without being spotted."

Sandy shrugged, tugging at his shoelaces as he sat on the corner of the bed. He was tired. He'd had too much beer and too little food. All he wanted was to crawl into bed and shut his eyes. He didn't want to get into it with his wife. Not now. He felt like he'd been walking a tightrope for the last two weeks as it was. Jimmy. Julie. Ryan. And now this. He knew what she was implying. She wasn't about to say it out loud, but he hadn't been married to this woman for the last eighteen years without knowing how her mind worked.

"Honey, can we talk about this in the morning? We've both had a hard weekend. You've had to deal with Julie, I've been helping Jimmy. We're drained. Let's discuss it when we're both feeling more awake, more refreshed." Sandy tipped his head pleadingly. "Why don't we meet for lunch tomorrow?" He leaned over to kiss her shoulder. She moved away, irritated.

"Just. Don't. OK?"

Sandy's shoulders slumped, his frustration beginning to get the better of him.

"Look, don't come home all pissed with me because Julie's a royal bitch!"

Kirsten slammed the lid of her suitcase shut.

"That is NOT what this is about!"

"No?" Sandy was wide-awake now. Wide-awake and pissed off.

"No! This is about our son. Lying. Staying out all hours. Coming home drunk."

"He came home drunk once! That's what teenagers do. They get drunk! They test the limits. Then they grow up."

"Seth has never been like that and you know it."

"I do know it. And I'm glad he's changing. I'm glad he's doing all the things a teenager should. I don't want him to be stuck at home 24/7 tied to his mamma's apron strings."

"He is NOT tied to my apron strings."

"No, but if it were up to you, he would be."

"That's not fair."

"What's not fair is you blaming Ryan for all this."

"I never said I blamed Ryan! Have I even mentioned Ryan in all this?"

"You didn't have to." The resentment in his voice was palpable.

Kirsten stood, tight lipped, as she watched her husband collect a blanket and pillow from the closet.

"Where the hell are you going?" she called after him.

"To sleep on the couch."

"You think you can just walk away from this? That in the morning it'll all be alright?"

Sandy stopped and looked at his wife.

"I think you need to remember that it was you who invited Ryan to stay in our home."

Kirsten bristled at that. That was a low blow.

"Oh, and you didn't want that, of course…" She couldn't believe Sandy had the nerve to say that to her. Not after she'd bent over backwards for the boy. Not after she'd swallowed all her concerns and worries for her family, for her own child.

"Of course I wanted it. You knew that. But YOU made the decision. You were the one who told him he could stay. And now you need to put your prejudices aside, otherwise this whole thing has no chance of ever working out."

Sandy's words were cold and threatening, and Kirsten's anger was suddenly gone. In its place was a lump in her throat and a prickling behind her eyes. She folded her arms protectively in front of her.

"I can't help it, Sandy"

She sat down heavily.

"I'm scared. Scared for Seth. I want to help Ryan. Really I do. I like him. It's just…I don't trust him. I don't trust him to keep Seth safe. I liked always knowing where Seth was. I liked that I wasn't one of those Newpsie parents who never know what their kids are up to. I liked that I didn't have to worry about him every Friday and Saturday night. And now he's off partying and goodness knows what. It's just not LIKE him. And this thing with the car? He's covering up something. My guess is he's covering up for Ryan. Maybe Ryan took the car somewhere and he's too afraid to own up to us?"

Sandy dropped the blanket and pillow and joined his wife on the bed. He slipped an arm around her shoulder and she rested her head on his.

"Look, Ryan's not perfect. He's not always going to get things right. But just because you think Seth is lying doesn't mean its Ryan's fault. I know Seth hasn't got into trouble before, but have you seen how happy he is since Ryan's been here? Have you noticed the spring in his step instead of the slouch? Have you noticed how little he's sat in front of that damned machine? Hell, he's even getting a bit of a tan! That's got to be a good thing, right?"

* * *

Ryan took a deep breath to brace himself before entering the kitchen. Six weeks in, and he still found the whole breakfast experience in the Cohen household an unnerving experience. Take Seth for instance. Ryan would shuffle over to the cereal cupboard to a tirade of Seth's observations about how his hair was looking this morning, what he had planned for the day and did Ryan think there was any chance of bumping into Summer in her bikini. Then there was Sandy. He'd let Seth have his ramble, look like he'd schmeared and was ready to go and then, all of a sudden, do an about face and land right next to Ryan, looking at him sharply like an eagle eyeing up its prey. And then the questions would begin. "How was he doing?", "Did he sleep well?", "How were things going at the Crab Shack?" "Was there anything he needed?" Ryan wasn't used to small talk first thing in the morning. He wasn't used to having questions fired at him one after another. He wasn't used to having to string an actual answer together. But most of all, he wasn't used to an immaculately coiffed woman walking past him, scent wafting in the air and the brittle tension it brought with it.

To say that Kirsten unnerved him was an understatement.

"Morning."

"Morning, Ryan." Kirsten turned from reaching into the cupboard for a coffee cup. Her smile was as polite as usual. As forced as usual. Ryan wondered fleetingly if it would be rude to just walk out again and come back later when Sandy or Seth was there to act as a buffer.

"Coffee?"

Too late. He was stuck, like it or not.

"Um, yeah, that would be great."

Kirsten nodded and helped herself to another cup. Ryan looked around briefly for something he could help with, failed to find anything, so retreated to the island and pretended to leaf through the morning's newspaper.

"Are you working today?" Kirsten asked politely.

"Uh, yes, I have a late shift. I probably won't be back till after dinner."

"We can eat late…"

"Um, no, that's OK. I can grab something at the restaurant."

"It's no trouble."

It is trouble, Ryan thought privately to himself. Everyone delaying dinner for him? Ryan already knew Seth went into decline if he hadn't eaten by seven.

"Um, really, I could be quite late. We're two people down tonight."

Kirsten frowned slightly and then shrugged.

"Well, if you're sure. Call us if it looks like you won't get to eat. We can at least put a plate aside."

Ryan nodded and let his eyes return to the safety of the Sports section.

Kirsten placed his coffee in front of him just as Sandy walked into the kitchen.

Ryan breathed an inward sigh of relief. Now he could leave the sanctuary of the newspaper and sit at the table where the cereal was already laid out.

"Ryan! How are you doing? You working tonight? Seth and I were going to set up a Play Station marathon."

Sandy leant in conspiratorially. "Between you and me, I could do with some moral support, otherwise I'm going to lose. Badly. You know I can't get a handle on those ninjas."

Ryan's face was apologetic as he put his spoon, laden with cereal, back into the bowl.

"Sorry, yeah, I have to work. I finish about nine. Can I join you guys then?"

Sandy looked disappointed.

"You know, you don't have to do all this work. Kirsten and I will happily give you the same allowance as Seth. You're part of the family now."

"Yeah, I know, but I can't let you guys do that. You've already done so much for me. Please, this is one thing I can do for myself."

Sandy nodded, understanding, and then muttered something about wishing his own son had such a philosophy.

"OK, guess I'll just have to annihilate as many as I can on my own. Maybe you'll be back in time to bail me out before Seth thrashes me completely."

"You know it, dad. Really, I wish you'd get some practice in-between games. Beating you hands down is like taking candy from a baby, except much less fun."

Seth appeared in the doorway, eyes bleary, pajamas hanging loosely around his gawky frame. He joined them at the table and reached into the cereal box for a handful of Frosted Flakes.

Kirsten approached with a mug of coffee and placed it in front of Sandy.

"Here. I'm off to work." Her tone was sharp and caught Ryan and Seth by surprise.

They exchanged glances and then looked at Sandy.

"See you later," he responded, equally as curt, and grabbed the paper. Behind the wall of newspaper, there was no telling what he was thinking.

Ryan shifted nervously in his seat, patting his cereal down into the milk with the back of his spoon, but Seth was not so easily fazed.

"Dad? Is everything OK? Why does mom have to work today? It's Saturday. She never works on a Saturday."

"Never say never, Seth."

Seth frowned.

"Is she still mad about the car?"

Sandy removed the newspaper from across his face.

"It's not about the car. But since we're on the subject, you can spend your morning taking it to the shop for the new paint job. They'll be expecting you."

* * *

"I told you already, I don't think you should go, Seth."

"Oh come on, Ryan, who are you, my mom now?"

"I just think Donnie is trouble. I wouldn't take him to a Newport Beach party."

Seth rolled his eyes.

"For goodness sake, just relax, will you? It'll be fine. I just wish you and Marissa would come too."

Ryan stood firm and ignored the whine. Besides, he had more on his mind than just his date with Marissa.

"I invited her here, not to a party. If we go to a party, we'll be surrounded by other people and that's kinda not the point."

Seth knew when he was defeated. He also thought Ryan looked uneasy, almost unsure. It wasn't like Ryan to worry about a first date, at least he couldn't imagine tat he would be.

"You seem kind of nervous…."

Ryan lifted his head from lacing his boots to glare at him.

"I'm not nervous. At least…. not about Marissa."

"I should hope not. You're like my benchmark for cool dating. If you're scared, what would I be like? If I ever get to the point of asking Summer out on a date, and if she ever actually says yes, I'm going to need a lot of hand holding, I can tell you."

"And you're not talking hand holding with Summer, I assume?"

"Man, I'm going to need you right beside me."

"That would make your date go real well, I'm sure." Ryan replied dryly.

"I'm not kidding, Ryan. I'll be a quivering wreck, incapable of coherent speech, coherent anything…"

"Let's hope she never says yes then…"

Ryan moved past Seth and picked up his watch.

Seth continued. "Anyway, enough about me…"

"Really?"

Seth ignored Ryan's raised eyebrows.

"What is it you're nervous about? Spill."

Ryan scowled but did at least sit down on the bed.

"Are you sure that thing at breakfast yesterday wasn't about the car?"

Seth shrugged.

"So what if it was? Mom has insurance. It's not like she'll have to pay for it."

"So you think it WAS about the car?"

Seth got up and wandered over to the kitchen.

"I have no idea," he answered, "She didn't seem particularly mad with me, more with Dad. Their door was shut early last night, and I don't think it was for, you know, the other…" He stopped , preoccupied, and gazed at a new TV sitting in its box unopened.

"Hey, did Mom buy you that?"

Ryan sighed and decided that any further discussion with Seth would be a waste of time. He was from a completely different world; a world where the repercussions of trashing a seventy thousand dollar car didn't enter his radar; a world where nothing was irreplaceable; a world where he didn't have to worry every day that he might be thrown out on his ass if he screwed up. If Kirsten was mad at them about the car, then Kirsten was really angry with him. She blamed him. It didn't take a brain surgeon to figure that one out.

tbc

Just one thing - lots of people seem to add my fic to their favourites, or alerts, because I get emails telling me and yet those people don't review. That kind of sucks, to know that people like it enough to read and add it to their faves but then don't care to review. Makes me wonder whether it's worth continuing posting here at ffnet.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to Loracj for the beta!

**Chapter Two**

Kirsten Cohen floored the gas of the Rover up the driveway. It was a good thing that no one was standing in her way, as she had taken her aggression out on the car all the way home.

The discussion she'd had with her father via overseas conference call had been a disaster. But then again, when did any conversation with her father go well?She shouldn't have expected any less since her dad's snooping secretary Shirley had seen fit to inform him of the Cohen family's unorthodox new addition.

Turning the car off, she lay her head back against the headrest wearily, hoping to collect herself before entering the house. She'd have to face not only Ryan, but Sandy as well, with all his self-righteousness at the ready. Since her talk with him the previous evening, she'd made a conscious effort to put her fears behind her, to keep busy, in the hope that she could ride out the storm and eventually reach a point where Ryan wasn't someone she felt threatened the equilibrium of her family.

And despite what Sandy might think, she did want that, honestly she did. In some ways she agreed with Sandy. It WAS good to see Seth so happy. He was less isolated, laughing even, and not in a sarcastic way. It felt good to do something for Ryan, too. She hadn't forgotten the look on his face as his mother's cab drove away. She wasn't heartless. So when she worried about his influence over Seth, she reminded herself of that look and how, despite the difference in his background, in many ways he was just as vulnerable. If she could just keep reminding herself of these facts, then she could do this. She knew she could. An all-pervading desire for a glass of chardonnay shook her out of her musings. Maybe a quiet evening on the couch with a good bottle of wine and her favorite new author would be enough to restore her.

She stepped out of the car, grabbing her purse as she did so, and slammed the door, pressing the alarm casually. The orange lights flashed predictably, on and off, and the car let out its signature beep. She walked up the driveway, the click of her Prada heels echoing reassuringly beneath her.

"Kirsten!"

Jimmy's voice traveled clearly in the night air. He stood at the bottom of the driveway, his face illuminated by the streetlight, Dustin straining at his leash.

Smiling, she turned back swiftly, heading down towards him. She kissed him lightly on the cheek and leaned down to pat Dustin's head.

"Hey Jimmy, how are you? I hear you and my husband had an interesting night while we were away…"

He grinned.

"We drank beer! I can't remember the last time I hung out with another guy and just drank beer. I'd forgotten how good it tastes."

She laughed, agreeing. Hadn't she had just the same conversation with Sandy about the beer?

"So…is he going to be able to help you?" she asked tentatively.

Sandy had given her a brief rundown of their evening, and he hadn't been very complimentary about the situation that Jimmy had managed to get his family involved in. Neighbor and best friend aside, idiot and foolish were both words that had been bandied about. She wondered if Sandy had shared those words with Jimmy. She thought probably not.

"He's given me some pointers. Things I can do. Things I can't." Jimmy shrugged. "I'm so grateful to him. He's about the only person still talking to me in Newport."

"Oh, come on, I'm still talking to you!" Kirsten protested, "and what about Julie?"

Jimmy shifted his body weight from one foot to the other and made a face she knew well. She could always read him; dating in high school had made that inevitable, even now.

"I'm not sure we're gonna make it, you know?" he said suddenly.

Kirsten shook her head.

"She's upset. She'll come around. Julie's made of strong stuff. Give her some credit."

"Yeah, I know she's tough. I'm just not sure she'll want to use her energies to support me."

"But what about the kids? Marissa? Kaitlin? She'll want to do what's best for them, right?"

Jimmy smiled ruefully.

"Maybe she doesn't think being around me is the right thing."

She didn't know how to answer that. Julie hadn't appeared at all the supportive wife at their spa weekend, and deep down, Kirsten had a horrible feeling that Jimmy could be right. She hoped not, for Jimmy's sake. Despite his failings, she still cared for him, and would hate to see his family, who she knew he loved deeply, disintegrate around him.

"So, this kid, Ryan? He's invited Marissa to your place tonight."

"Really? That's great."

Jimmy raised his eyebrows doubtfully.

"I know you said he was one of Sandy's clients…"

She nodded, not sure how much of Ryan's story she should reveal.

"He is.Was. He still is, I guess. It's just, he's also living with us now. Permanently."

Jimmy didn't miss the edge in his neighbor's voice.

"Permanently?"

Kirsten nodded, her arms folded, absorbing the surprise in Jimmy's face and his questioning look; a look which asked 'Really? And how do you feel about that?'.

"So, from a dad's point of view, you know, without being overprotective…"

Jimmy didn't need to finish his sentence. Kirsten put her hand up.

"Oh, no, I'm sure she'll be fine."

"And you know this because…"

Kirsten looked apologetic.

"OK, I don't know. I think she'll be fine. Ryan seems like a good kid; at least Sandy seems to think so. He thinks he's just been led astray by his brother, had a tough time with his family. But if you want, I'll keep an eye out tonight. We'll be home anyway."

Jimmy nodded.

"Well, Marissa has a lot of freedom, but I trust her. And like you say, you'll be there."

"I'll watch out for her," Kirsten promised.

Silence hovered briefly between them and the moment felt suddenly awkward.

There and then, Kirsten felt like she could have spilled all of her feelings here on the driveway to one of her oldest friends. She wouldn't, of course. She had too much loyalty to Sandy to do such a thing, and he would never forgive her for turning to Jimmy, of all people. So she unfolded her arms and began searching for her keys in her purse, telling Jimmy that she had to go and see if her family had planned anything for dinner.

Jimmy took his cue and nodded to the dog, now sitting patiently at his feet.

"And I'd better walk Dustin before I run out of time. Julie and I are taking Kaitlin to her grandma for the night so that we can "talk"…"

Kirsten gave him a pitying look and hugged him briefly, wishing him luck before turning and clicking her heels back up the driveway.

* * *

Ryan arrived home shortly after Kirsten, and leaned his bike against the outside wall of the pool house. He glanced across to the lighted kitchen, where he could see Sandy and Kirsten. No sign of Seth.

He hoped Seth had taken his advice and was holed up in his room and hadn't gone to that Newport Beach party. He had stopped at the Crab Shack again today to make arrangements with Donnie and clearly hadn't been affected by Ryan's best steely warning glare across the counter. Ryan enjoyed talking to Donnie at work. He had a good time hanging out with him the night before at a place that felt more like his old neighborhood. That didn't mean, however, that he was happy about Seth hanging out with this kid. Seth just didn't know how to spot trouble before it actually blew up, and who knew what trouble he could land himself in if he arrived at Holly's with Donnie in tow. Ryan thought Seth would have learned his lesson after that first party they'd gone to, after that fashion show. Newport kids didn't welcome strangers to their social gatherings, especially ones who were usually clearing their plates and refilling their drinks.

Having locked up his bike (he would never get used to the fact that it would be most unlikely to get stolen here in this gated community), he threw his jacket down onto the bed and deliberated braving the kitchen. He had checked with Sandy about having Marissa over, and he'd been cool with it. But now that Kirsten was home, he felt he needed to run it by her too, just in case Sandy hadn't bothered to mention it. They'd both made it clear that he should feel that this was his home, and be able to invite friends over, but being told and actually doing it were two different things. He didn't want to seem like he was taking advantage, but he didn't want to blow Marissa off again either. It would have been a whole lot easier if Seth hadn't dragged him out the other night when he was supposed to spend time at her house. He debated his chances of slipping through the side door unnoticed to first get some moral support from Seth, but decided against it. He doubted he could pull it off without the Cohens spotting him, and besides, Seth may have already gone to that party.

"I just think you should maybe talk to him, that's all…."

As soon as Ryan set foot through the door,Sandy and Kirsten's conversation stopped dead. Sandy greeted him with a smile that should only be used upon the return of a long lost friend.

"Ryan! Hey kid, how did your day go? I hope the spoiled Newpsie offspring didn't work you too hard…"

Kirsten looked up from opening some foil packages on the counter top, her face pinched, betraying an anxiety Ryan was becoming accustomed to seeing.

"Ryan, Seth's gone out to some party. He said you weren't going with him, so I picked up take out for the three of us. Unless you've already eaten…."

"Uh…."

Ryan glanced at the food nervously. Fuck. He should have told Kirsten that he'd been planning to make grilled cheese for Marissa. Fortunately Sandy, sensing Ryan's discomfort, stepped into the breach and slapped his head ostentatiously with the palm of his hand.

"You know what, honey? I completely forgot to tell you. Ryan's having Marissa over tonight. I'm so stupid. But I'm starving. I'll eat my portion and Ryan's and probably some of yours too."

Kirsten shook her head tightly.

"That's fine. Seth's bound to come home later hungry anyway."

She looked over at Ryan's anxious face.

"And I saw Jimmy earlier. He mentioned you were having Marissa over. That's really nice. She could do with a friend right now."

"Are you sure? I could eat now and just make her a snack later…" Ryan chewed his lip, unsure of what to do.

"Nonsense. You go ahead with your plans. I should have realized when Jimmy mentioned it and asked you first. It's my fault."

Sandy slapped him on the back.

"Go on. Go get ready for your date. We'll eat and then get out of your way. I'm going to try and get some more practice in killing ninjas without Seth knowing and Kirsten's got some paperwork to do, right honey?"

Kirsten nodded and smiled briefly. Ryan looked doubtfully between them.

"It's not really a date, it's just…I mean, are you sure it's OK? We could go out somewhere.."

Sandy laughed.

"Don't be silly. We want you to treat this like your home. This IS your home," he added pointedly.

"Uh, OK then, I'll be in the pool house if Marissa comes to the front door."

"Don't worry. We'll point her in the right direction."

* * *

Kirsten waited until she was sure that Ryan was back in the pool house before turning to her husband.

"Do you thinkit's a good idea for Ryan and Marissa to date?"

"I don't know what you mean, honey."

"Well, we don't know much about Ryan and any…relationships he may have had."

Sandy shrugged.

"No, but you can say that about any kid we don't know. Just because he doesn't come from Newport and you haven't known him since he was a toddler, doesn't mean he presents some kind of danger."

Kirsten cradled her glass of wine in her hand.

"No, it's just, she's Jimmy's daughter, and she's vulnerable right now. I just don't want her to get hurt. Don't you think you should at least talk to him about what we expect?"

Sandy reached over and stroked her hand affectionately.

"We invited this boy into our home. We have to let him live some kind of life here. He's got to be allowed to spend time with who he chooses if this is ever going to work."

"I know. It's just…" Kirsten sighed irritably. She didn't really know what she thought any more. Her conversations with her father and Jimmy crowded into her brain. They jostled for position with visions of what Seth might be doing at the party that she hadn't known about till Sandy had announced it glibly when she'd arrived home.

"Listen, he's going to be right under our nose tonight at least. Let's just take one day at a time, and if we feel we need to talk to him about girls, or curfews, or whatever, then we will. But let's not scare him off, huh? He's not asking to do anything that a normal teenager wouldn't do."

"I guess not. And he did say it wasn't really a date…"

Sandy snorted at that.

"What?" Kirsten looked affronted.

"You believed that? Come on, sweetheart. We're talking about the girl next door, remember. 5'10, stunning hair, hot body. And did I mention the hot? No, he's not on a date, they're just friends!" Sandy chuckled to himself as he helped himself to more Pad Thai.

* * *

To be honest, Ryan was having second thoughts about his date with Marissa. The date that wasn't a date. At least, it WAS a date to Marissa, and a non-date to Sandy and Kirsten. And to him? Well, he wasn't quite sure at this point. If he had asked himself the same question two days ago, then he would definitely have called it a date, but things had changed since then. Now he wasn't sure he wanted it to be.

After all, there had been the whole car being trashed thing, and even if Seth had conveniently forgotten it, he hadn't, and he was pretty sure Kirsten hadn't either. If he'd been her, he knew he'd blame the stranger in their midst. It was clear from how she'd reacted the morning after Holly's beach house party, when Seth had been so obviously hung over, that she wasn't used to such behavior from her kid, and the glare that Ryan had received was unmistakably a blaming one.Suggesting to Seth that he should maybe tell his parents what really happened to the car had brought a torrent of pleading from the dark haired boy, punctuated by a tirade of how his new life would be over if his mother even got a whiff of them having been at a party in Long Beach. Long Beach WAS apparently Chechnya as far as Kirsten was concerned.

Ryan knew that this had absolutely nothing to do with the girl next door, but hewondered how long this arrangement of living with the Cohens was likely to last if Seth insisted on "living his teenage years to the fullest" as he had told Ryan more than once in the last few days. It may be only a car now, but Ryan was willing to bet that if anything happened in the future and even one hair on Seth's head was hurt, then he, Ryan, would somehow be deemed responsible and then the axe would fall, big time. And if that happened, then he couldn't afford to be emotionally attached to the girl next door, no matter how hot she was. And she was hot. There was no getting away from the fact. Hot and emotionally vulnerable. Just the very sort of person he needed to avoid getting entangled with, for her sake as well as his.

Ryan pulled his shirt over his wife beater and glanced in his mirror as he straightened his hair, still damp from the shower. He couldn't disappoint her by blowing her off a second time, but he could do his darnedest to keep some distance between them. Slightly reassured by his decision, he headed out to the grill.

* * *

_London, England_

Caleb Nichol lay stretched out in the bed, his body motionless, but his mind buzzing. Gabrielle slept peacefully beside him, her bronzed shoulder peaking tantalizingly out from the bed cover; her blonde hair tumbled around her face. Trying to distract himself, Caleb cast a long glance around the hotel room. He liked it. High quality furnishings, complimentary fruit and designer water, a gleaming white iMac in the corner, top of the range toiletries. For a hotel room, it was pretty near perfect. And Caleb was a man that liked perfection. The perfect house, the perfect car, the perfect woman on his arm, the perfect family, looked up to by all of Newport. But Caleb Nichol's idea of perfection did not include a fifteen-year-old juvenile delinquent living in a house he had paid for; nor did it include said juvenile delinquent sponging off a daughter and son-in-law he kept from living their own lives on the breadline.

tbc

Please leave a review! Don't be a lurker!

E.T.A Thanks to gg anon for the heads up on chapter one - I wondered what you meant about the abrupt scene changes and then realised I'd left out the dividing lines. So many thanks for that!


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to my beta Loracj, and many thanks to those who've taken the time to review. They are appreciated very much. I am a review whore, heh.

**Chapter three - no return policy**

"_He's not a criminal mastermind. He's a kid that has no one and nowhere to go."_

"_What is it about this kid?"_

"_He couldn't stay there__,__ Sandy, they were going to kill him."_

_  
__"Ryan's going to stay with us now__.__"_

"_I never knew you to be an impulse shopper."_

The yellow beam streaming in from the full moon outside did nothing to help Kirsten fall back to sleep. Of course there was her husband, peacefully slumbering beside her. Damn Sandy and his ability to sleep through any crisis. Damn him for not even seeing this as a crisis. She was hot and sticky, and her mind was crowded with visions of guns and doctors and police talking gravely to Luke's parents, so she gave up, roused herself and glanced at the neon lights glowing from the nightstand. She had been asleep for precisely two hours. Two hours since they had arrived home, Seth and Ryan in tow, both shaken and exhausted but physically intact at least.

How and why Ryan had ended up at the party with Seth was still a mystery. Sandy had insisted firmly that they would all discuss it in the morning. Kirsten had been so shaken by the whole race to the hospital after Ryan's phone call that she hadn't the energy to argue.

Kirsten slipped into the bathroom and switched on the light. She didn't even attempt to shut the door behind her quietly, her irritation with Sandy's continued sleeping threatening to erupt from inside her. A minor pang of guilt pricked at her as she heard him stir and turn over in the bed, but still she turned the tap on fully and allowed it to gush noisily into the sink. She splashed the cooling water across her cheeks and patted her face dry with a towel. Returning the bathroom to darkness, she padded across the bedroom and studied the thermostat on the wall. It was so damned hot in the room she was certain the air conditioning was either broken or not working to full capacity. Sandy rolled over again, muttering quietly.

"Honey.."

Kirsten swung around to face the bed.

"I'm sorry, Sandy, I didn't mean to wake you."

Except that she had meant to. Not consciously of course, but she did need to try and reconnect with her husband; to try and explain her anxiety, and to make him understand how she felt.

Sandy pulled himself up slowly and flipped on his nightstand lamp. He rubbed the palm of his hand wearily over his eyes then studied his wife. She stood, arms tightly folded across her midriff, staring out at the pool house.

"Can't sleep?"

She shook her head, the motion short and brittle.

"They're fine, both of them," he prompted. "We can't protect our kids from everything."

"Luke's not fine."

Sandy at least had the grace to nod in acknowledgement. Kirsten pressed on.

"Besides, Ryan's not our kid. Seth is our kid. Our son."

Her emphasis on Seth's name made Sandy wince.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm just saying it's our job to protect him."

"And?"

"And we're doing a lousy job now that Ryan's here."

Sandy didn't want to get into this now, he really didn't. Not now, in the middle of the night after the last evening's events, and certainly not when he had a heavy session in court the following morning.

"Hon, can we discuss this tomorrow? I'll get home early, we'll throw some tuna on the grill, send the boys to the movies, huh?"

Kirsten's icy response would have frozen a lesser person than Sandy Cohen to the spot.

"You want to send them out again. Together. After all that has happened this week? Sometimes, Sandy, I really don't understand what goes through your head."

Wide awake now, Sandy gave up all notion of a good night's sleep and propped himself up on his pillows.

"I think you're overreacting."

"Overreacting?"

The look on his wife's face finally shook Sandy to frustration.

"You think this is all Ryan's fault! The poor kid wasn't even there!"

"A boy was shot tonight, Sandy, a boy the same age as our son. A boy in his class. And shot by a kid Seth was introduced to by Ryan. How am I supposed to react? You may be able to brush it off and go to sleep without a worry, but I'm scared for our child."

Words were still forming on Sandy's lips as the door slammed behind his retreating wife. If she thought he was going to follow her and beg forgiveness for bringing this kid into their home, then she could think again. She had made this decision as much as he had and he wasn't going to be made to feel guilty for it. He flattened his pillows with his knuckles and slammed his head back down, tugging the covers back over his shoulders. He might not be able to sleep, but he'd do his damndest to pretend he was.

* * *

Moving shadows scattered weirdly deformed circles across the ceiling of the pool house, the reflections of the moon on the water of the infinity pool refracted through the glass. A breeze filtered through the open door and flapped the blinds idly.

Ryan noticed none of it. He lay on his bed, still fully clothed, smears of blood across the leg of his jeans and across his shirt. He pulled at his wrist cuff, tugging the leather, worn and soft, tight against the bone of his wrist, his fingers looped underneath, twisting it around and around until angry red lines appeared on his flesh. Seth liked to tease him, pester him about where he could get one for himself. Seth had decided a wrist cuff was the symbol of cool. For Ryan it was a symbol of home.

His mom, Trey, Theresa. Hanging out on the hot and dusty streets when school was out. Games of pool at the back of Trey's bar of choice. Making out on the backseat of Arturo's car when he wasn't around. Sometimes he was so homesick, he got a physical pain in his stomach, deep inside. The only way he could get rid of it was to run a really, really long way along the beach, when he had to focus so much on breathing and moving his legs one in front of the other that he couldn't think about anything else.

About his mom, wherever she was.

About Theresa, walking to school without him every day, wondering where the hell he'd gone.

About Trey, languishing in the penitentiary.

He picked up the shiny new cell phone Sandy had purchased for him shortly after they'd asked him to stay. It had almost all of the fifty dollar credit that Sandy had purchased. The only times he'd used it had been to respond to inane text messages from Seth and tonight's call from the hospital. Who would he call, after all?

His fingers ran over the keys as he debated. Theresa's number was as familiar to him as her freckled and tanned face. He'd called her that night for perhaps the thousandth time. Even now he couldn't understand why she hadn't answered. There was always someone at home at Theresa's place. If it wasn't Theresa's mom or Theresa herself, it could be one of her many aunts who all lived in the neighbourhood. There were always a few of them in the yard, sitting on folding chairs spouting Spanish back and forth between them. Arturo was often there, working on his car, and sometimes even Eddie waiting for Theresa to finish her after school job in the local Hispanic store.

The knot inside him got tighter as he thought of them all, their lives meandering along without him. Did Theresa miss him? Had she tried to find out what had happened to him? Did she still care? Had she ever?

He threw down the phone in irritation. Even if someone answered now, at two in the morning, they wouldn't be too happy. Besides, Theresa would most likely berate him for not calling her before now. What good would it do anyway? She couldn't help. It wasn't like he could go back to Chino and live with her.

He got up from the bed and pulled open the door of the pool house.

They met in the kitchen, each startled by the other's sudden appearance.

"Ryan, I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you to be up…in here…so late."

Kirsten's voice was flustered. Unconsciously, she pulled her robe around her more tightly.

"I couldn't sleep," Ryan replied bluntly.

"Me neither," she said, half smiling. "I was going to make cocoa. Would you like some?"

"I guess…" Ryan answered warily.

It was a long time since he'd had cocoa. Cocoa was reserved for early evenings at those summer camps he'd been sent to as a little kid; the ones funded by child services for kids from deprived backgrounds who'd likely spend the summer on the streets getting into trouble if they didn't have the camp to go to. To be fair, they'd been fun, but he'd never let Trey know that. Trey had told him they'd be full of wusses and that he'd catch something horrible from the other kids if he got too close. Trey didn't have to go as he'd been considered old enough to fend for himself. Only now did Ryan realize that Trey would have loved to have been able to go. Three meals a day, an outdoor pool, endless games of baseball and soccer and a bed to sleep in that Ryan didn't have to worry about being woken from in the middle of the night by yelling and screaming and his mom stumbling drunk along the hallway. .

He sat on the stool and watched Kirsten as she busied herself with the saucepan and carton of milk, silence settling awkwardly between them. He fiddled again with his wrist cuff.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly, catching her off guard as she stirred the powder into the steaming liquid.

"It's fine," she answered, trying to brush it off like it was no big deal that her son had been present at a shooting. The catch in her throat betrayed her and Ryan wished he'd kept quiet.

She placed a mug in front of him and changed the subject onto what she hoped would be safer ground.

"So how did your date go with Marissa? Or your evening with her, anyway," she added lamely, remembering that Ryan had insisted it wasn't an actual date.

Ryan considered. Visions of the evening flashed before him. Eating the cold mac and cheese as they talked about her parents, their feet cooling in the water, the tussle into the pool, the flirting. And there had been a lot of flirting. In some warped way, he owed Seth a debt of gratitude. Despite his resolution to keep things simple, he knew that if Seth hadn't interrupted them with his panicked phone call, he'd have kissed her. If Trey was here, he'd have laughed hysterically at his little brother and made coarse comments about keeping it in his pants. Ryan was well known in his neighborhood in Chino for having no ability to resist a hot girl. Trey had rescued him on more than one occasion from the clutches of an older jealous boyfriend. And there was no doubt about it, this girl was hot, really hot, and he could feel himself falling for her more each minute. It was probably just as well that he'd called her about Luke and that she'd come rushing to the hospital. With any luck, they'd get back together and Ryan wouldn't have a choice about whether or not to date her. But the thought upset him all the same.

"Ryan?"

Kirsten was still waiting for an answer, so he dragged himself back to the here and now.

"Sorry, um, yeah, it was nice…"

Kirsten raised her eyebrows in an amused query.

"Nice?"

Ryan blushed. "Well, we had a good time until…"

"Until?"

"Until Seth called," he finished, bowing his head apologetically.

"Oh," nodded Kirsten, "so that's how you ended up at the party. I thought maybe you'd taken Marissa."

Ryan shook his head quickly.

"Uh, no, Holly's house," he said by way of an explanation. He sipped at his cocoa, hoping he wouldn't have to elaborate more about what had gone down at the party.

Kirsten nodded, understanding.

"Well, Sandy said we should leave it all to the morning, so why don't you take that cocoa back to the pool house and try to get some sleep…"

She didn't mean it as an order, but Ryan nodded quickly and slipped off the stool. He had disappeared before she had even finished rinsing the saucepan.

* * *

In the morning, there was no sign of Kirsten. The lecture from Sandy was short and sweet. After he'd established the chronology of events, he told both boys in no uncertain terms that if either of them was ever in a situation like that again, then their first call must be to him or Kirsten and NOT to each other. Seth and Ryan listened soberly and nodded, Seth even managing to stay quiet through his father's whole speech.

After he'd dispatched them both to their respective rooms, Sandy leaned against the counter top and tugged at his tie anxiously. He hoped they'd both listened and understood. He hoped they would both manage to get through the summer without any more incidents. If they couldn't, Sandy wasn't sure that Ryan would still be with them come September.

Back in his room, Seth busied himself making a "Days of Summer" mix cd.

Back in the pool house, Ryan made another resolution.

tbc


	4. Chapter 4

_"Your father is here."_

Four little words. Four little words with the power to ruin Kirsten's day. Or week. Maybe even her month.Shirley enjoyed

dropping unexpected bombshells, and catching the Ice Queen off guard was always a pleasure. It gave her an inflated

sense of importance knowing information before the boss's daughter, and it made her feel better about herself.Mrs. Cohen

may have the perfect figure, the perfect clothes and the perfect hair. But she, Shirley, slightly dour even by her own

admission, whose hair did not swing as she walked and frizzed madly into an uncontrollable mass the minute a sea fog

descended, was a closer confidante to the head of the Newport Group than his own daughter could ever hope to be. And

one day Shirley knew she'd be rewarded for it.Caleb Nichol had told her as much. That, in itself, made her one track life

worth it. She lived, breathed and slept this job. Aside from Mr. Nichol himself, she was the first person to arrive at the office

in the morning and the last person to leave at night. Keeping the company running smoothly was her main mission in life,

which was just as well, as she had very little else to occupy her. Her work, and the occasional visit to the website of the

retirement community she had picked out in Florida filled all her waking moments. Mrs. Cohen certainly looked surprised at

the announcement about her father, but now that Shirley was paying more attention, she could see that something had

already upset the second in command. Telltale red rings around her eyes, dark shadows below them and a slight flush to

her cheeks indicated that Kirsten Cohen had already been crying this morning.

* * *

"Dad, I wasn't expecting you back until next week!"

Caleb barely looked up, seemingly immersed in paperwork at his desk. His answer, however, told a different story.

"I thought under the circumstances that I should return as soon as possible."

Kirsten rolled her eyes.

"Dad…"

He didn't give her a chance to respond fully.

"So, when do I get to meet this street urchin, this juvenile delinquent, hmm?"

He shuffled the papers in front of him and still refused to meet her eye. Her father always had the ability to do this, to

reduce her to having to justify herself and her family. Now here she was defending a boy she barely knew.

"Dad, his name is Ryan. We would really prefer it if you didn't refer to him as a juvenile delinquent."

Now he looked up at her sharply.

"We?"

There was almost a snigger in his voice.

"Come on now, Kiki, I think we both know this had to have been Sandy's idea."

He knew her so well, just how to get to her, and she bristled with resentment.

"Sandy brought him home, it's true, but it was actually my idea that he should stay with us, at least short term. There was

no way he could stay where he was."

"In prison, you mean?"

"He was only there because his mother disappeared and there was no one to take care of him."

Caleb shook his head dismissively.

"You have no idea what you've got yourself into. Sandy may not see him as a juvenile delinquent, but didn't this kid burn

down my house? Did he not trash your car? Did he not get my grandson drunk and then almost get him shot? I cannot

imagine what the two of you were thinking. "

Her eyes were tingling dangerously. She debated leaving, if only to avoid her father seeing her reduced to a

quivering wreck. Her father ignored the silence between them and looked at her keenly.

"Sit down, Kiki. Something's upset you."

His voice turned so quickly from the accusatory to the mollifying that she was powerless to resist. If she hadn't been

so tired, if the monumental fight with Sandy hadn't continued early in the morning and drained her of the small amount

of energy she'd had left, she might have stood a chance of holding herself together. Instead, exhaustion kicked in. The

tears began to roll unchecked as she laid all the concerns and worries that had accumulated inside her over the last few

weeks firmly onto her father's shoulder.

* * *

Seth had been in the pool house for a full thirty minutes. Ryan, who was already very adept at filtering out all but the most

important and relevant information that emanated from him, was itching to finish the one way conversation and head out.

"So what do you think?"

"What do I think about what?"

Ryan was confused. Served him right for not listening properly.

"About my plan to woo Summer?"

Ryan shrugged.

"Sounds OK to me."

What Seth's plans were exactly, Ryan could no longer recall.

"Cool, then you'll hook us up with free lobster?" Seth asked, then rotated the office chair he was sitting on

a full three-sixty, and propped his feet up. Ryan's face went from confused to concerned.

"Free lobster?"

Seth backtracked, pulling his feet down off the counter top to sit up and face Ryan.

"Well, maybe it could just seem like free lobster. Maybe I could slip you the money earlier. We can just make it look like I

get free stuff at the Crabshack."

Ryan shook his head.

"I can't do that."

Seth put on his most pleading face. Ryan felt bad, but only momentarily.

"It's not that I don't want to, I just can't," he explained in a rush.

"Why not? You can explain to your boss what you're doing. He'll be cool. He knows my mom, and he'd be broke if it wasn't

for us Cohens constantly ordering take out!"

Ryan shook his head again.

"No, it's not that. I'm not going to be working there any more. I'm just on my way now to quit."

"Quit?"

Seth's face crumpled in confusion.

"Why would you do that? The 'rents are totally OK about you working there, even after the gun wielding maniac debacle.

Besides, what about the whole 'paying your own way' thing you insisted on last week?"

Ryan picked up the freshly ironed Crabshack T-shirt and wedged it into his backpack.

"I don't plan on needing any money," he announced as he slung the bag over his shoulder.

"Because..?"

"Because I don't plan on going anywhere," he answered simply.

Seth was momentarily lost for words. Momentarily.

"So you're just not going to go out? Until when? Like till this blows over or what?"

Ryan shrugged.

"Look, Seth. Your parents have taken me in, fed me, clothed me. I'm supposed to keep my nose clean. I can't do

that when all this…stuff… keeps happening. I'm better off just staying home."

He hoped Seth would understand. He hoped the other boy would see that this plan of action was really the only one he

had open to him. He was too grateful to this family and too hopeful for his future here with them to screw it up.

"And by the way, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell your parents about this whole staying home plan. I'll tell them I'm quitting

the Crabshack, but I'd rather they didn't know the rest. I don't want them trying to talk me out of it."

Seth nodded soberly. He was actually very proud of how good he was getting at reading Ryan. He could tell, for instance,

when Ryan was wavering and he could head in for the kill, like when he tried to warn him off attending that party with the

Range Rover. He could also tell when Ryan had firmly made up his mind and couldn't be dissuaded, such as Long Beach

versus Austin as an escape destination. This, Seth felt, was another of those occasions.

"So, lots of Play Station marathons perhaps?"

Ryan grinned gratefully.

"I can't think of anything better."

Seth walked toward the pool house doors, looking back over his shoulder as he got ready to leave.

"Well, my friend, I'll just have to make a new plan. One that involves inviting Summer here, maybe? Shouldn't be too difficult

now that you and Marissa are dating."

Ryan's smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"Um, we're not dating. We had one date. Not really a date," he floundered.

Seth scoffed."Come on, man, I've seen how you look at her, _and_ how she looks at you. Don't think I don't know you want

to jump her."

Ryan's face flushed and he shifted uncomfortably.

"Yeah, maybe, but I don't plan on asking her for another date. Besides, you've got it wrong. She's into Luke. You saw how

she rushed to see him the other night at the hospital."

Ryan couldn't help but feel a little bitter about that whole night. He'd really thought they'd had a connection. He'd thought

she was into him. Ryan knew it was stupid to be bothered by it, especially since he had no intention of allowing the

relationship to develop further, but still, it hurt.

Seth laughed.

"Yeah, buddy, you keep telling yourself that! Dude? He's been her boyfriend for like, forever. Why wouldn't she check up on

him? Doesn't mean she's not ready to move on."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter now. I can't ask a girl out if I'm never going to actually go _out_," Ryan muttered.

"Well, if you're not going to slip her the Atwood tongue, could you maybe just play nice and be friends until I can

ensnare Summer?"

Ryan's face crinkled with distaste.

"That's disgusting. And you make it sound like Summer's a wild animal."

"Yeah, well, you'll see why when you experience one of her legendary rage blackouts!"

Seth pulled the glass door behind him. Ryan bent down to tie up his boot laces. He sighed heavily as he heard the door

open again two seconds later.

"I forgot to tell you, my Grandpa's coming to dinner. Mom called earlier."

Ryan's head shot up, his face pinched and white.

"Your grandpa whose house I burnt down?"

Seth waved his hand dismissively.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it, he has so many. Trust me, it won't even be on his radar…"

Before Ryan had another minute to consider this unfortunate turn of events, Seth was back yet again.

"Oh, and buddy? You may need to take a rain check on that whole quitting thing. Guess who's here to see you?"

Seth stood back to let Marissa enter the pool house.

"Thanks, Seth," she smiled lightly as she stepped through the door. Seth gave Ryan a conspiratorial wink before making

himself scarce. Marissa stood uncertainly, her hands thrust deep in the pockets of her jeans.

"I hope it's OK to come over. You look like you're going somewhere."

Ryan threw his backpack onto the bed. The Crabshack would have to wait.

"Yeah… no…I was going to..but..um… it doesn't matter. I can do it later."

"You're sure?" Marissa still wasn't sure if she was welcome.

"Absolutely. Come in…sit down…"

He gestured to the only seat in the room. She sat awkwardly on the edge of the chair as he sat down on the bed.

"So, I really enjoyed last night…" she began.

Ryan nodded earnestly. "Yeah, me too."

"And I wanted to thank you for calling me from the hospital."

"No problem."

Marissa bit her lip, unclear what to say next.

"I really needed to see Luke. Make sure he was OK."

Ryan nodded again. "I get that."

Marissa was obviously uncomfortable, and Ryan sat silently, waiting.

"But I wanted to say, you know, just because I went to see him, we're not back together or anything like

that…"

"Well, you guys must do whatever you think…," he acknowledged.

Marissa looked puzzled.

"Right, um, well, I just wanted you to know that. I guess I'll see you then."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll see you around, I guess."

He stood up when she did, attempting to ignore the hurt and confused look on her face. They exchanged a clumsy embrace

before she left. Ryan felt like a real heel. He knew exactly what she had been trying to say, and he'd let her sit there

floundering. He should have just been honest and told her he wasn't interested. OK, maybe not honest, but upfront about

how it was going to be, at least.

* * *

Seth and Ryan had been asked to move some large potted plants from the terrace to make more room for the family to sit

outside for dinner. Seth, muttering protests to heavy lifting, had left Ryan to do it while he went in search of tableware. It

was only when the sunshine disappeared that Ryan noticed the large man looming above him.

"You must be Ryan."

Caleb's tone was bordering on accusatory. Ryan stood up hastily, brushing his dusty hands against the legs of his slacks

before offering his hand to shake.

"Yes, um, Mr. Nichol, right?"

"Right," Caleb answered, pointedly ignoring the proffered hand. "So you're the kid who burnt my house down…"

"Oh Grandpa, give him a break. It was an accident."

Caleb swung around on his heels to face his grandson and Ryan breathed a sigh of relief at the welcome

interruption.

"Seth! I was looking for you. Met your new friend here instead."

"Yeah, Grandpa, Ryan. Ryan, Grandpa."

Seth waved his hands in way of introduction.

"We've already had the introductions," Caleb dismissed and turned his back on Ryan.

"Now tell me how your sailing is going…"

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief as the attention slid away from himself to Seth, who began an animated diatribe about his

latest sailing experiences. He finished moving the plants and kept himself busy setting the table and chairs around the

fireplace. When he ran out of useful things to do, he headed for the kitchen.

"Ryan, wait!" Caleb's voice traveled clearly across the patio and made the boy's heart sink.

"Come back over here. I've spent so much time talking to my grandson I've had no chance to ask you about yourself."

He gestured to two chairs that sat near the pool and Ryan had no choice but to drag himself back from the direction he'd

been heading. The last thing he could do was be rude to Kirsten's father. Ryan sat gingerly on the edge of his seat and

caught a pitying glance from Seth as he was dispatched by his grandfather to fetch drinks.

"So," Caleb leaned back in his seat, putting his hands behind his head as if to illustrate the casual nature of his

questioning, "where do you come from, Ryan? Tell me what brought you here…"

"He's from Chino. A little hotter, a little dustier and tragically, no ocean to surf, isn't that right, Ryan?"

Ryan swallowed in relief as the second Cohen to come to his rescue in as many minutes appeared beside them. Sandy

beamed at Ryan benevolently and sat himself on the arm of Ryan's seat. He passed a beer to his father in law and a

Mountain Dew to Ryan. Ryan didn't miss the look of irritation pass over the older man's face at the interruption but he was

thankful that, for now at least, the circumstances of his arrival in Newport were dropped.

* * *

"_That's it. Ryan Atwood. Chino. I'd guess about 15 or 16 years old. Living with my daughter's family. Whatever you can find out, _

_Mike, his history, what he spends his time doing here in Newport. Thanks, I appreciate it."_

Dinner with his daughter's family last night had not been as illuminating as Caleb Nichol had hoped. He'd gotten a little

background from Kiki in his office when she'd broken down, but only the barest minimum. He'd hoped to have some time

alone with the boy, but every time he'd engineered it, Seth or Sandy would appear from nowhere, butting in and

channeling the course of the conversation. By the end of the evening, he knew little more than he'd known at the

beginning. All he did know was that his daughter was unsettled with this kid in her home. After meeting him for himself, and

watching his furtive glances and edgy behavior, he was sure she had good reason to worry.

tbc


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 **

_(Two weeks later..)_

Sandy watched Ryan from the balcony of their room. The light was off as Kirsten was already sleeping so there was no way Ryan would see him. It was midnight but the sky was clear and the boy was easily visible. Sandy had stood at this window, in this position, every night for a week. The first time had been an accident. He'd been drawing the drapes and just happened to notice the solitary figure sitting on the ground, his back resting against the pool house glass. He'd watched as Ryan had taken a drag of the cigarette that lay between his fingers. Sandy supposed he'd been naïve to expect the boy to quit, just like that, but that first night he'd been unsettled by it. He couldn't really put his finger on why but as each night came and went, and each night saw this kid take out one single cigarette and smoke it, silent and staring out across the pool, he became more and more uncomfortable. The boy he saw, late at night, was not the same boy who appeared every morning at breakfast, slightly awkward and quiet but eager to please and seemingly beginning to settle in to their family life. Sandy was kept awake at night wondering what the hell was going on in this kid's head.

********************************************

In the morning, when Ryan and Seth appeared in the kitchen simultaneously from opposite directions (Sandy wondered if Ryan had some secret method of determining the precise moment Seth would appear),Sandy attempted to engage Ryan in conversation.

"So, what are you kids up to today? The summer's going to be over before you know it. Make sure you use your free time wisely."

Seth appeared not to notice that his father's question was directed more at Ryan than himself.

"We're just going to hang around here today Dad, we have everything we need - the pool, the PS2, snacks…"

Sandy frowned, his face betraying both his irritation at Seth's interruption and with what he had to say .

"What, not go out at all? What about the beach? The surf?"

Seth raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, cause we all know how I love to surf, Dad."

Sandy shook his head.

"You could think about Ryan occasionally. Maybe he doesn't want to spend endless hours in front of the screen? Maybe he'd like to hang out in the sun, with some other kids…Marissa…"

Ryan, until now the silent bystander, leapt in suddenly.

"No, honestly, it's fine. It's cool. Hanging here is great. And Seth has a new game we have to try, right Seth?"

Seth tagged in. "The ninjas are calling us, Dad.."

Sandy shrugged. For the last couple of months he'd watched the relationship between these two boys strengthen and deepen with a mixture of excitement and pride, only for it to suddenly work against him and his better judgment.

"Well, if you'd rather spend your day fighting ninjas than eyeing up the hotties on the beach…"

Seth covered his eyes as if mortally wounded.

"Dad, don't say "hottie". Besides, just think of all the money I'm saving for college by being a shut in."

Kirsten came in at that point, breezing past Sandy and leaving a trail of her distinctive perfume lingering around him. As she helped herself to coffee she looked over her shoulder and gave her son a withering look.

"Because it'll be you, of course, who'll pay for college…"

Seth grinned. "Well, you pay the fees and I'll buy the snacks."

Kirsten shook her head in defeat and made in the direction of the refrigerator.

Sandy passed a schmeared bagel to Ryan who accepted it wordlessly, and focused his attention back onto his son.

"Don't you think all this talk of college is kind of hypothetical? First you need to get the grades, and that means two more years buckling down at school."

Seth groaned.

"It's August. The word school should be banned from the vocabulary for the whole month."

Sandy ignored this and turned to Kirsten.

"That reminds me, Kirsten, we need to get in touch with Dr Kim, find out if we can get Ryan into Harbor. School starts in under four weeks. If there are no vacancies we'll have to investigate other possibilities for him."

Ryan, his mouth full of bagel, and Seth, his mouth full of nothing but hot air, both made to speak at once, Ryan to protest at the possibility of attending Harbor, Seth to protest at the possibility of Ryan _not _attending Harbor. Both were cut off by Kirsten who had turned to Sandy, coffee in hand, and said shortly,

"I think that's something we need to discuss later, don't you, Sandy? Privately?" she added pointedly.

Sandy looked blankly at her, perplexed.

"Well, Ryan's got to go somewhere. He can't just drop out."

Stating the obvious was clearly something his wife did not appreciate, nor wish to pursue.

She gave her husband a "this subject is closed for now" look.

"As I said, maybe we can discuss this over lunch? Say 12.30 at my office?"

Seth waited until his mother had disappeared before sending an apologetic look over to Ryan, who was wishing, not for the first time, that he hadn't drawn Sandy Cohen as his PD.

*****************************************

Sandy flung two paper bags down onto his wife's desk. The overstuffed sandwiches fell out and crumbles of cheese tumbled onto the glossy brown desktop.

"Did you have to do that?"

"Do what?" Kirsten knew exactly what Sandy was referring to but felt it prudent to pretend otherwise.

"Make the kid feel even more uncomfortable than he already does!"

Kirsten shifted backwards defensively.

"I'm sorry. It's just that you took me unawares. I wish you'd discuss issues about Ryan privately, when we're alone."

"Yeah, because we have so much alone time." The bitterness in his voice was a kick in the stomach to his wife. She didn't want to fight with him. Not again. She wished she could replay the whole kitchen scene from this morning and do it differently. She wished Sandy hadn't brought up the subject until they were alone. She wished, if she was absolutely honest, that this wasn't a subject that needed to be dealt with.

Sandy leant forward.

"So what was this morning all about?"

Sandy Cohen may love to talk but his wife knew that this was one occasion when he was going to wait for her to give some answers.

She pulled one of the paper packages towards her and peaked inside.

"Thanks, my favorite," she murmured.

Sandy didn't even blink. His eyes remained fixed on her, guilting her into flushing under the scrutiny.

"I'm sorry. Dammit, I seem to be saying sorry all the time lately." She ran her fingers across her forehead and through the streaks of her hair.

And still he waited.

"I guess it's all becoming so..so…." she finished lamely.

"Permanent?"

Kirsten shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

"Yes. And that whole school issue just brought it home in a way that I just hadn't appreciated before."

"But we made it clear to him that this would be a permanent arrangement. Have you forgotten that discussion we had, when he asked what if something went wrong?"

Kirsten nodded and interrupted.

"Yes, and we implied that he'd done as bad as he could do. That nothing could be worse. And at the time I believed that, I really did. Only now.."

"Now you're not so sure."

For the first time in a while Sandy Cohen wanted to hug his wife, stroke her head and murmur into her hair that he understood, that he got why she was worried.

"I get that, I do, and I'm sorry too. We should discuss things like that in private, you're right. It's just that I really want to help Ryan. A school like Harbor could do wonders for a bright kid like that."

Kirsten nodded.

"I know, I know. I guess in my heart of hearts I somehow assumed we'd never get this far."

Sandy knew what she meant. When he looked back over the last few weeks he was as surprised as she was that Ryan was still with them, that he hadn't left of his own volition or that Social Services hadn't decided that he really should return to his mother.

"I'm worried about him."

The change of tack caught Kirsten off guard.

"In what way? He's getting on well with Seth. He seems happy around the house."

Her face was troubled and Sandy couldn't help but relax inside. She may not realize it herself but she'd just shown to him that despite what she said, and what she might honestly believe herself, she did care about this boy and his welfare. He decided to push home the advantage while he had it.

"That's just it. He's always around the house. Haven't you noticed he hasn't been going out? Neither of the kids have. Day in, day out they're in front of that infernal machine."

"Isn't that what Seth's always done? I mean, Seth's never been big on socializing."

Sandy frowned. "I thought after Ryan arrived things were changing a little. They went to those parties, Ryan was spending time with Marissa Cooper…and now nothing."

Sandy was becoming positively animated now, eager to get Kirsten on board, for her to see and sense what he did.

"And didn't you think it was weird the other night how he suddenly announced he was quitting the Crab Shack? I know he felt responsible for the shooting and all but I had a long talk with him about that and told him he couldn't blame himself."

Kirsten took a bite of her neglected sandwich, the tension between them both having dissipated.

"That _was_ strange. He'd been so insistent about paying his way a little. Not that I mind. You know me, Sandy, I like Seth to be home, safe, under our roof, and when Ryan was out working Seth seemed to spend his time aimlessly down at the pier waiting for him to finish, like some long lost sheep. That's how he ended up being at that wretched party in the first place…."

She stopped as she saw her husband's eyebrows raise.

"I guess that's one of the reasons Ryan felt responsible," she sighed.

She rubbed at the bridge of her nose tiredly. "I need to talk to him, apologize for this morning. When I do, I'll ask him if he's staying home to stay out of trouble."

"I can do that if you want…"

"No, I need to. He's trying to appease me, not you. I'm the one making him feel like he doesn't have a right to a life here in Newport."

"And school?"

"I'll call Dr Kim first thing this afternoon."

**********************************************

"So do you think the hoody suits me?" Seth stood before the mirror in the pool house angling his body this way and that.

Ryan raised his head from the comic book Seth had insisted he read by dinnertime.

"I think you should stick to those sweaters you like."

"Too scrawny?"

"You said it, not me."

"What if I started working out? We could lift weights together."

"Just so you'd look good in a hoody?"

"Summer may prefer it."

"If Summer needs you to beef up before she'll speak to you then she's not worth it anyway."

"Yeah, wise advice, but, uh, not actually helpful. Did I not tell you that I've loved her from afar since the second grade?"

"Several times."

Seth joined Ryan on the bed, his hands dug deep into the pockets of the hoody.

"I think I'll ask Dad if we can turn the garage into a gym. Hey, has this thing been washed since you arrived? The pockets are full of crap…"

Ryan threw the comic aside.

"Just leave my stuff, Seth. Yes it's been washed, and yes, the pockets are full of…"

"Gum wrappers….an old key….a really old condom - I have one of those…"

Ryan snatched futilely at Seth's lap, trying to retrieve his jacket.

"Oh, cool. A Zippo. My dad has like a collection of these. I think once he thought I might turn into a pyromaniac cos I kept sneaking into his office to test them out. He'd come home to a waste paper basket full of half burnt business cards. Until he emptied the gas out of them all, that is."

Seth flicked at the dial and the lighter roared into action, the small flame burning bold and upright against the silver of the canister. His thumb ran over the blue and gold emblem embossed on the side.

"Airborne? Is this some military symbol?"

Ryan blew at the flame and grabbed the Zippo from his hand. The fumes from the fuel lingered a moment in the air.

"I don't know. My brother gave it to me. I think he found it in a bar someplace."

Seth shrugged, his interest waning. "Cool. Now, what shall we do tomorrow? I have a sneaky feeling my dad is on to us, with the whole not going anywhere or doing anything plan. We need a new plan."

"No new plan. At least not involving both of us." Ryan added thoughtfully.

Seth threw down the canister, suddenly serious.

"You're not going to take off are you? If you're still concerned about what my mom said this morning, forget it."

"I don't know, Seth, she's worried."

"I don't know what she's got to be worried about."

"Come on. She's taken a complete stranger into her home, who then got her car trashed and introduced her to a gun wielding maniac!"

"That was my fault."

Ryan raised his eyebrows pointedly.

"And you're saying if you'd never met me, you'd have hooked up with Donny and taken him to a Newport Beach party, huh?"

"If I'd never met you I may well have taken off myself and thenmy mom would _really _have something to worry about."

Seth's shoulders slumped, his body defeated. Ryan barely caught the rest of his words.

"Don't leave. Please."

Ryan looked across at the misery on his friend's face. He'd never have thought two months ago that he'd feel sorry for a kid from a beach side gated community.

"I won't leave," he promised, "at least, not now. But we stick to the plan, OK?"

Seth sprang up, relieved.

"Really? OK. I promise, from now on, no veering from the plan and no suggestion of veering from the plan."

******************************************************

Kirsten braced herself before knocking tentatively on the pool house door. She could see Ryan inside, laying on the bed, one of Seth's summer reading books in his hand. She allowed herself to smile just a little at the irony. Seth had to be nagged from day one of summer break to get his summer reading done and here was this boy picking up a book voluntarily. Maybe Sandy was right and Harbor could be a really good fit for Ryan. Once they'd got through the earlier awkward part of lunch they had moved on to discussing schools, despite the unease Kirsten still felt. Sandy was adamant that they try and get Ryan into Harbor and Kirsten could see that on a practical level it would be easier to have both boys at the same school. She was slightly concerned at her father's reaction however. Taking Ryan in was one thing, spending thousands of dollars on his schooling was another. He was bound to make several caustic comments aimed not just at Ryan, but herself and her choice of husband.

"Come in."

Kirsten turned the handle of the glass door and smiled over at Ryan who had sat up smartly as soon as he had seen who it was.

"Good?"

"Uh.."

"The book?" Kirsten gestured to the copy of "Invisible Man" now lying at his side.

"Oh, yeah, pretty good. I borrowed it from Seth. I hope that's OK?"

Kirsten frowned momentarily. This boy really did walk on egg shells when she was around and she felt even worse than she did already.

"Of course," she answered, "Anyway, if you go to Harbor you'll need to have read it anyway."

"Yeah, about that.."

Kirsten put up her hand to stop Ryan continuing.

"I'm sorry about this morning," she began. "Sandy caught me unawares and honestly, I hadn't quite got as far as thinking about schools in my head."

She hoped Ryan would accept this explanation without her having to elaborate. Seeing his face now she knew, as she had deep down all day, that he knew exactly why that was. Still, he made it easier on both of them and just nodded in that guarded, reticent way he had.

"Anyway," she continued, "I've made us an appointment with Dr Kim, the Principal. She's agreed to interview you a week before school starts and if that goes well and you pass the placement tests then there'll be a place for you. It seems we're lucky. There's just one place spot left in the class."

"And if things don't go well?"

"Sandy's confident," Kirsten responded, and then added "As am I."

"I'm guessing it's a lot of money. Can't I just go to the public school?"

"Well, yes, you could, but for one thing Seth would never let us hear the end of it and much more importantly, we think that, considering your past, this will give you the best chance in the future and that's what we want for you. Isn't that what you want for yourself?"

"I guess."

Kirsten smiled with a confidence she hadn't felt before she came in. "Good, then I'll let you get back to that book, though I'd really like to see you and Seth getting out a little more. The beach maybe?"

The look Ryan gave her confirmed what Sandy, and now she, suspected.

"Tomorrow, no T.V or Play Station, OK?"

When Ryan nodded sheepishly she knew she'd made her point.

*********************************************

It had taken Mike McClaren just a few days to gather the first half of the information his boss wanted. People always talk, especially when they're pissed off and dollar bills are waved under their noses, and Mike had found plenty of people in the Chino neighborhood that were willing to dish the dirt on the family of the kid he was investigating. It took him just half an hour to produce the background report and email it to Caleb Nichol, detailing the history of petty crime, drug use and the dysfunctional family that surrounded one Ryan Atwood. The second part of the job had proved just as easy, though he wasn't sure how his boss would react to the news about how Ryan Atwood spent his time in Newport Beach.

**tbc**


End file.
